I am a recovering opiate addict and am having trouble getting panic attack medication. Please help!?
Question by sypher88: I am a recovering opiate addict and am having trouble getting panic attack medication. Please help!?
So i went into a walk in clinic earlier this week because i have been suffering from severe panic attacks ever since i was a kid. I ended up seeing a psychiactric associates clinic in 2006. They prescribed me zoloft along with xanax (1 mg) to take three times daily as needed. The zoloft made me feel weird, and the Xanax helped tremendously! It got me out of my house, helped me find a job, helped me find a girlfriend, and most of all let me be in public places without nearly passing out!
About a year later my prescribing doctor decided it was time for me to come off the xanax and just go with the zoloft. My anxiety came back ten times worse.
So I ended up self medicating and developed an addiction to hydrocodone and percocet. I would seek these from multiple doctors and adventually got caught for doctor shopping. I spent 30 days in rehab to get off these opiates.
So when I went into the walk in clinic the doctor I saw was extremely rude. He said he didnt like what he saw on my medical records and noticed I was red flagged by the DEA from my previous addiction to opiates. He refused to prescribe me xanax again and only gave me zoloft, and even told me he was going to reccomend that I get my license suspended because I have panic attacks when I drive.
My main question is how do I go about getting myself off this red flag list so I can get the medication I really need and not end up self medicating again! These doctors and the DEA just dont seem to understand this. I NEVER abused the xanax, it was the miracle medicine i’ve been looking for my entire life. I need to get this worked out with the DEA or find a doctor that understands my situation. These people think that since I self medicated and was addicted to opiates, I am just as prone to abuse xanax, thus making me suffer horribly once again. I am back at sitting in my house all day, afraid to drive, afraid to socialize, am currently unemployed, and I dont want to have to buy xanax off the streets.
PLEASE HELP ME WITH WHAT I SHOULD DO!
Best answer:
Answer by David
Xanax is a short-term fix to suppress your symptoms until the zoloft and the therapy can kick in. It isn’t meant to sustain you throughout your entire life. No respectable doctor is going to prescribe you xanax for a long period of time and now that you’re flagged you won’t be getting xanax at all unless you get it through a psychiatrist. You really need psychiatrist that will help you with this without throwing drugs at you. But then again if you’re really just a drug addict you don’t want the help and in that case get a marijuana card if you’re in one the “green” states.
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